Messi enters record books as Argentina reach knockouts. Mbappe and Haaland score a double each
Lionel Messi bounced back from missing an early penalty to become the World Cup's all-time leading scorer as Argentina downed Austria.
Argentina 2-0 Austria
Argentina goals: Messi (38, 90+5)
Lionel Messi further cemented his legacy as one of football's all-time greats by scoring a brilliant brace against Austria to become the FIFA World Cup™ all-time leading scorer.
The Argentina legend now has 18 goals at the global showpiece - following his hat-trick in the opener against Algeria - to eclipse Miroslav Klose's 16 strikes.
Messi opened the scoring with a brilliant goal, stroking into the bottom corner after Thiago Almada’s dummy allowed Facundo Medina’s ball to reach him in the area. He then found the net deep into injury time to seal a thrilling victory.
Messi's history-making opener in Dallas Stadium had been delayed by his early penalty miss and decisive blocks by David Alaba for a spirited Austria side. However, his dynamic double not only took Messi top of this tournament’s Golden Boot standings but sent Lionel Scaloni’s defending champions into the Round of 32 from Group J.
To cap off Argentina’s day, the drama took place on the 40th anniversary of Diego Maradona’s wonder goal against England. The closest Ralf Rangnick’s men came to denting the Argentinian celebrations was a free-kick by Marcel Sabitzer, on his 100th international appearance, while Nico Gonzalez came close to finding the net for Argentina.
However, the European team struggled to break down the defending champions, and Messi, as he has done in seven of the last nine Albiceleste World Cup games, made the difference once again.
Everything was bigger in Texas, thanks to Lionel Messi.
Centurion Mbappe fires France through
Lionel Messi has a rival at the top of the FIFA World Cup scoring charts after another Kylian Mbappe brace sent France into the knockout stage.
France 3-0 Iraq
France goals: Mbappe (14, 54), Dembele (66)
Kylian Mbappe celebrated his 100th France appearance by scoring a double that secures Les Bleus' place in the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Round of 32.
The Real Madrid star's brace also takes him on to four for the tournament, just below Lionel Messi in the adidas Golden Boot standings, and maintains his extraordinary goal-a-game record at the global finals.
Ousmane Dembele later added a third for the 2018 winners and 2022 finalists, who were rarely troubled in this thunderstorm-delayed match in Philadelphia.
The outcome was never in doubt from the moment Mbappe rifled them into a 14th-minute lead, crashing home a ferocious left-foot shot from 20 yards after being teed up by Michael Olise.
If his 15th World Cup goal was a cracker, Mbappe's 16th - which took him level with the previous all-time record holder, Miroslav Klose - was something of a gift. Zaid Tahseen and goalkeeper Ahmed Basil made an almighty mess of a goal kick, presenting the ball to Dembele, who squared up his captain for a routine second.
Dembele's reward for that unselfishness came 12 minutes later when the ever-inventive Olise slid him in to crash home the first World Cup goal of his stellar career.
France and their star-studded attack now march on to an intriguing clash with Norway safe in the knowledge that they will play knockout football regardless of the outcome. Mbappe, meanwhile, will continue his personal duel with Messi for both the 2026 Golden Boot and the all-time World Cup scoring record.
Norway 3-2 Senegal: Haaland brace sends Norway into knockouts
Norway beat Senegal 3-2 with Erling Haaland staring as they sealed their progress into the round-of-32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.Marcus Pedersen gave Norway a lead after defensive errors from Senegal, before Haaland made it 2-0 right after the break. Ismaila Sarr got one back, but Haaland made it 3-1 with a stunning finish.
Norway then sunk back to absorb pressure and protect the lead, and Sarr made them pay with a lovely goal to make it 3-2 in stoppage time. That, though, came too late as Norway held on for a historic win.